CURRENT FOCUS — AEC MARKET MASTERS

Don Sherman is leading the launch and expansion of AEC Market Masters, the rebranding of Don Sherman Group LLC, providing proven strategies for architecture, engineering, and construction firms to thrive through market shifts. His work equips firms to win complex, high-value infrastructure programs in an increasingly competitive and disrupted market environment.

Current initiatives include:

• Market Master Certification℠ — Training Strategic Pursuit Leaders and Project Developers in client-centered Strategic Pursuit & Capture Planning

• Development of proprietary methodologies including Winning by Design© 2026, Client Account Analysis©, and Theme Modular Presentations© under exclusive Dag Knudsen IP license

• BD Plan & Core Competency Benchmarking to maximize marketing return on investment

• Advisory support to mid-market A/E firms navigating AI disruption, post-COVID market shifts, private equity M&A activity, and generational relationship gaps

These offerings are built upon three decades of hands-on leadership creating strategic pursuit systems, training seller-doers, and delivering sustained revenue growth for global AEC firms.

PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY — FROM ENGINEER TO STRATEGIC GROWTH DIRECTOR

Professional Engineer → Seller-Doer

Don’s career began as a Project Engineer, where early exposure to low backlog conditions required him to learn how to win work as well as deliver it. He secured his first proposal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and quickly evolved into a high-performing seller-doer, generating consistent new projects for teams and offices.

Learning How Selections Are Made

While supporting federal agencies and reviewing hundreds of competitive proposals, Don gained rare insight into how technical and economic buyers make procurement decisions. This experience shaped his focus on client account intelligence, value proposition development, and capture planning — foundations of his later strategic pursuit systems.

Project Developer → Practice Builder

Over the next decade, Don held regional and national business development leadership roles with Malcolm Pirnie (Arcadis), Dames & Moore (AECOM), HDR, and MWH Global (now Stantec). In these roles he built CRM-driven BD systems, developed systematic client relationship frameworks, led multi-office market expansion, and created templated capture planning processes and leadership training programs that produced sustained growth and improved win-rates.

Strategic Growth Director — Institutionalizing Winning Systems

At HDR, Don built a firm-wide Strategic Pursuit Program targeting large must-win infrastructure opportunities. The program exceeded a 90% win-rate on major pursuits in its first year and became a model replicated across multiple business sectors and teaming partners.

As Chief Marketing & Sales Officer at MWH Global during the 2008 recession, Don implemented global strategic pursuit systems that enabled the firm to maintain and grow core water and environmental business lines, including winning the Panama Canal Third Set of Locks program.

FOUNDER & CEO — AEC MARKET MASTERS (2012–PRESENT)

• Built and coached award-winning BD and strategic pursuit programs for AEC firms

• Trained pursuit leaders responsible for 1,000+ strategic pursuits with 80–85% win-rates

• Generated $10B+ in fees through pursuit leadership and capture planning systems

• Delivered estimated $25:1 marketing ROI for client firms

• Established teaming alliances with 40 of the top 100 ENR Top 500 design firms

His proprietary Client Account Analysis™ and Theme Modular Presentation© frameworks have become industry-recognized best practices, institutionalizing the Strategic Pursuit Leader role now standard across major AEC organizations.

EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE

• CEO, Principal & Director — AEC Market Masters LLC (2012–Present)

• CEO — FLP Acres LLC (Controlled Environment Agriculture & Advisory) 
(2021–2025)

• Executive VP — TeknoGRID (IT/Telecom/Broadband Infrastructure) (2016–2023)

• Executive Director — ACEC Private Client Practice (2014–2016)

• Chief Marketing & Sales Officer — MWH Global / Stantec (2008–2010)

• Senior VP & Strategic Pursuit Director — HDR (1998–2008, 2010–2012)

ADVISORY & TRANSACTIONAL FOCUS

• M&A buy-side and sell-side advisory

• BD capability benchmarking and integration

• Growth capital value-creation programs

• Strategic partnerships and mega-project teaming

• P3 / PPP pursuit leadership

• Infrastructure project finance and investment

BOARD & GOVERNANCE LEADERSHIP

• Township Business Improvement District — Chairman

• Township Planning Board — Member

• County Solid Waste Authority Board — Member

• Newark NJ Workforce Development Board — Member

• TeknoGRID Broadband Advisory Board — Member

Board-level contributions include governance oversight, risk management, CEO evaluation, and strategic direction for growth-oriented organizations.

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

• Master of Engineering — Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University

• Bachelor of Science — Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University

• Bachelor of Arts — Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University

• Graduate Studies — Atmospheric Sciences, University of Wisconsin

Professional Engineer

Virginia — Current

Nebraska — Expired

Languages: English (Native), French (Basic)

GLOBAL STRATEGIC PURSUIT EXPERIENCE

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, Singapore — leading landmark infrastructure pursuits valued from $250M to $5B.